Brothers in Chains, We Think
by acceptedmisconceptions
Summary: They're caught. Both of them. Sasuke and Itachi. They're in the same cell. Thankfully, neither of them know who their cell buddy is...otherwise each of them would have to kill his new best friend and his only way out of Konoha.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I shouldn't be writing anything else. Especially not with AP papers to write. Oh well...this could be a fun story, so I'll live it up. I'm going to need reviews to know if this sucks, though. It very well could.**

**Disclaimer: I don't make any money from Naruto.**

**PROLOGUE**

"You missed it, Ugly"

The breeze was cool and soft as it whispered through the grass and trees around them.

"You missed it again, Ugly"

Orange dusk was the only illumination left at the training grounds, and it was fading quickly—almost as fast as Sakura's patience.

"You missed it again, Ug--"

"Damn it Sai! I know I missed it! I have eyes! Eyes, see? Right here!" Sakura said, throwing down the kunai in her hand and urgently pointing at her jade irises.

"I know you have eyes; I just didn't know if you could tell that you were failing miserably. At first, I assumed that you could because there are clearly at least six inches between the target and your weapon, but you just kept throwing…and missing, and missing, and missing" the pale, emotionless boy said, smiling at his fuming partner.

The training grounds were a mass graveyard full of headstones that lacked bodies. Shuriken, kunai, and senbon needles riddled the moist earth, sticking out at odd angles like ancient gravestones. In the middle of it stood two ninja, one shaking in anger and the other casually reposing against a nearby tree.

"Ya'know Sai, when you're done training, you should leave" Sakura said, placing her gloved hands on her hips.

"And when you can't do anything properly anymore, you should give up" Sai countered, still smiling.

"Go away!"

"No. I would rather stay here and keep you updated on your failures"

"Fine! Then I'll leave!"

"Why thank you, Sakura. What a kind offer" Sai said, picking up his own kunai pouch from the base of the tree.

Sakura's fist seemed to curl in on itself even more, making the fabric of her gloves squeak in protest. "Insufferable little prat!" she muttered under her breath as she slung her bag over her shoulder and began to walk away.

Her feet found a path through the metal debris until the kunai and shuriken became less and less frequent. Soon, she was back on the main streets of Konoha, kicking up dust from the road and thinking of places where her friends might not be taking advantage of the dusk to practice their weaponry in the difficult lighting. She decided on a training niche a few minutes away, hoping that she wouldn't be intruding on any team's practice session.

The shadows were lengthening at an alarming rate, so Sakura found herself running towards the place she was thinking of, cursing Sai under her breath as she did so. _Just thirty. Thirty kunai in the center of a target and then I can go home. I don't care if I have to do it in the dark _she thought angrily as she finally came into the darkening clearing just outside the main gates of Konoha.

She was so engrossed in her explicatives and goals that she didn't notice the long, recumbent body in the tall grass behind her. Totally ignorant of the relaxing ninja, Sakura threw down her bag of kunai and raised three to her shoulder, poised to attack the menacing red and white circles of the targets around her.

"Hello, Sakura. It's good to see you again" Neji said, lifting his torso up so that he could lean back on his elbows.

The sudden noise—optimally punctuating the silence at the exact moment Sakura was releasing her weapons—made the startled kunoichi completely loose her focus. Three kunai went sailing into the now dark woods.

"What the Hell!" the pink-haired one yelled, spinning around to face her unwelcome interloper. "Oh hi, Neji. What are you still doing out here?" Sakura asked, softening her tone a smidge.

"I assure you, I would have run the second you turned around, but I've been told that is best to make no sudden moves around you when you're angry" Neji said, pretending to raise his hands in defense.

" Isn't that bears?" Sakura asked, walking over and falling down in the grass beside him.

"Bears and medic-ninja with incredible strength" Neji corrected solemnly.

"Oh, right". Silence settled around them, but it wasn't too uncomfortable. Both ninja were looking up at the pale stars that were just beginning to appear overhead.

"Sai is a complete ass" Sakura said. Her head was still tilted upwards, giving Neji a chance to admire her smooth, pale neck.

"So was Sasuke" he commented with an air of challenge. They'd had this argument before. Only two weeks ago he'd managed to make Sakura admit that her old teammate wasn't as great as she always thought he was. Neji didn't want to lose the progress he'd made.

"Che. So were you" Sakura replied, raising an eyebrow at him while still managing to keep eye contact with the Little Dipper.

Neji shrugged in reply. He knew he couldn't argue, especially when Sakura was angry with herself over taijutsu training. Instead, he tried to make her feel better about whatever was frustrating her while gently reprimanding her. "He just knows that you're much stronger than he imagined. He's angry because he's obsessed with being right about everything…just like someone else I know"

"Yeah, yeah" Sakura muttered, lying down so that she wouldn't have to angle her neck so much to see the stars. The motion was fortunate. Something in the trees caught her eye and she immediately tensed.

"How have you been, Neji? It's been forever since I saw you for more than a passing greeting" she asked him. She'd turned her head sharply to the side so that she could look him in the eyes, hoping for a chance to convey her warning.

The anxiety was unnecessary, apparently. Neji nodded to her gravely while replying, "Nothing unusual. Frequency of missions has increased though. _Three_ in the past four days".

Three? That didn't sound right at all.

Sakura got the message: on three they would go.

"Yeah…_one_…I…_two_…heard…_three_"

Suddenly, the two ninja sprung into action. Neji was gone even faster than Sakura, disappearing into the foliage with no hesitation. Sakura took time to feel out the intruder's chakra signature as it flared in response to Neji's attacks.

"Neji! Get out!" She yelled, pulling her fist back to her cheekbone. She didn't have time to see if the dark body being flung out of the tree was foreign or familiar; she just let the day's anger funnel through her wrist and into her fist as she hit the ground with a satisfying crack.

Suddenly, the tree sagged on one side, roots holding onto the dirt as it started slipping into an earthy chasm. One body snagged on a limb before it could fall into the earth. Neji leapt to catch it before the figure's grip on the dry branch was lost, and both figures landing tumbling on the other side of the destruction Sakura had created.

When Sakura arrived seconds later, an appalled Neji Hyuuga was facing off with a dirty, torn, masked ninja with a sliced mist headband hanging over his eye. The hygienic state wasn't what had shocked Neji though—it was the chakra. The intense, swirling chakra in the grungy man's chakra network was looking very unappetizing to the young man who had just been planning to ask his friend out for a relaxing dinner.

He shouldn't have worried, though. Before either party could engage in battle, three swift kunai flew past Neji's right shoulder. The grungy enemy ninja fell—thunk thunk thunk.

"I knew I'd get some good target practice in this evening" Sakura said, grinning from hear to ear. She had taken one of her gloves off and was fanning her face with it. "Come on! We should get him to the hospital. I think I was a bit overzealous"

Neji smiled, already walking towards the fallen shinobi in the darkness. Maybe they could at least get some ramen after delivering the man to the proper authorities.

* * *

His eyes were the problem. If he'd been able to make out the pink hair, Itachi would have known to be more careful. Instead, he'd concentrated solely on the petulant Hyuuga boy. As it were, the already-wounded Uchiha had been prepared only for a quick escape, having already gathered sufficient information to ascertain that the toad sannin and the kyuubi were in the Rain Country. But, even the Hyuuga he'd underestimated.

Three hits with gentle fist…three. It was unacceptable by any Uchiha's standards, and Itachi was no ordinary Uchiha. It had been all he could do in his weakened state to give himself a new appearance using henge before he felt the tree buckle beneath him. At least he could rest assured that no one—even the Hyuuga boy—would be able to see past his disguise while he recuperated in Konoha prison.

Actually, Itachi mused as he felt the kunai plunge into his chest, he would probably get better treatment for his wounds while in the hands on his enemies than in Kisame's clumsy care. He slipped into unconsciousness thinking of Kisame's last words to him on the topic of medical care: _clean? Well, hell, it looks clean! Why waste time to clean it again…yeah, but it's only a little dried blood…oh, come on it's not going to hurt you…_

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked Sai as he stepped into the lobby of the hospital. Neji glanced at the two from where he was explaining the state of their captive to Tsunade. _This doesn't bode well_ he thought, and he could see his sentiments reflected in the Hokage's eyes.

"All right, Neji. You can go…as long as you take Sakura with you. She already owes me for the wall in my office" the woman said, sighing bitterly. She wasn't happy with her apprentice's turbulent temper. Who knew that Naruto was actually the one who calmed _Sakura_ down?

Tsunade hadn't, but it was apparent within a week of the fox-boy's departure that Sakura needed someone like him around…even if it was only a way to let some of the girl's violence escape from her petit, pink-haired body. At least the pride-and-joy of the ANBU, Neji Hyuuga, had taken an interest in her young apprentice. He wasn't the same kind of tranquillizer, but he was effective enough…and strong enough as well.

Sai smiled. "I found an intruder sulking along the west entrance. I think I thought he was you, so I showed him what real kunai work looks like…his forehead wasn't big and strong enough to deflect the blow like yours would have been, though"

Behind him, two medic ninja from the hospital night-staff were bustling around a headbandless man's bleeding noggin. None of them were calling for Tsunade or Sakura though, so it was safe to bet that he wasn't in critical condition.

"Big and strong my ass!" Sakura said, advancing on Sai with her fist clenched for the third time that night. Before she could get far, Neji called her from the doors.

"Sakura, you'll just embarrass yourself if you make a scene. Let's go get some ramen" He said, making Sakura huff. Leave it to Neji to dissolve her rage in embarrassment. He was right, though. Last time she'd confronted Sai about his "assiness" her pride hadn't fared very well.

"All right, I'll let him go" Sakura said, turning away from Sai's false smirk, "But I'll pass on the ramen. I need to go home and relax, I think…let some steam off".

Neji held the door open for her as they left the hospital, but he stopped to give Sai a cool glare with his wide, white eyes. That ass had ruined his chance at a nice evening.

* * *

Sasuke frowned through the haze of pain and blood. He'd been leaving, as in within-twenty-seconds-of-being-gone kind of leaving. Naruto had left the village, no one had left to find him…there was nothing else Sasuke had needed to find out. But then the strange, pale ninja had appeared behind him, smiling in a peculiar, hollow way. "Are you lost?" the chunin had asked him, before promptly attacking him with a kunai.

Sasuke knew that he should have been being more careful, but his henge disguise had been wearing on his chakra supply for days and he'd just wanted to get out of his old village before Orochimaru finally started to wonder why he'd been gone so long. Actually, Sasuke thought in bursts of lucidity, it might be better that he stayed in Konoha to recover from his head-wound.

After all, not neither the Hyuuga bloodline trait nor Kakashi's Uchiha eye could pierce the specially designed genjutsu; it had been a specialty of Itahci's—a henge disguise that even their own kin couldn't see through. Sasuke's final conscious thoughts made him shiver…being under Kabuto's watch for days would not have been fun at all…not at all.

**I'm sorry I don't have time to spell check. Tell me how much I suck in a reveiw and I'll buy you candy...well, you won't get any but you'll know someone actually bought you candy just for complaining about their grammar! Just tell me if this is too boring. I have a nasty feeling that it is.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This is more of a filler chapter than anything, but I needed some characterization. Thanks bunches to Raven Noemi for the review! I'm telepathically sending you candy.**

**Hey…Neji, Sasuke, or Itachi? I love all of them, and I want Sakura to love one of them, too.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

_Exceptional security on the criminal patient ward. Limited access to useful materials and windows. Crowded. Shinobi lounging down the hall. Well done, Konoha._

The Konohagakure Hospital had _nearly_ managed to impress Itachi. He lay in his cot, curtained off in a corner of a bland, sterile hospital room with more chakra restraints than necessary. The moon was a hangnail falling through blackness; Itachi could see it in a narrow barred window on the wall to his right.

His chest was sore from the kunoichi's kunai, but he didn't mind. Pain was something he rarely had to acknowledge thanks to his childhood training. The nagging thought that was keeping him awake through the haze of sedatives was less physical, but much more painful.

He'd been complacent the night he was captured, and now he wondered if the heavy feeling below his wounds was the emotion called "regret". The care was better here, yes, but was it worth the trouble of having to break out later? He slowly blinked his newly-amber, glinting eyes in the darkness. He'd been lazy and tired that night; he'd let himself think that capture could somehow benefit him.

He grimaced with his disguised face. He would deal with his mistake as quickly as possible. This was a minor setback—one that did, in fact, have some benefits. He would leave Konoha as he found it, and as soon as possible.

Sasuke frowned at the man across from him in the ward. He, Sasuke, should be the only one in the room with enough stamina to fight past the sedatives, but there the man was—conscious and grimacing. Sasuke could see the man between the folds of the vinyl privacy curtains that sequestered him from the other patients.

Judging by the chakra seals and bindings around the room, Sasuke was in a ward specifically for wounded criminals. The man across from him was most likely an enemy of Konoha, maybe even a fellow Sound ninja. From the number of personal chakra seals placed on the strange man, the younger Uchiha guessed that he was either a known criminal or had immense chakra reserves.

Sasuke grinned. It had been a while since he worked on his social skills. With his skull still—literally—soft, he might need some assistance from a fellow elite ninja. He would try to make contact with the other criminal tomorrow.

Lacking his brother's control, Sasuke had accidently let his heart rate rise. The monitor above his head began to beep and a flustered nurse bustled in to inject more sedative into Sasuke's IV feed. With his newly deep-green eyes, the younger brother could make out the glimmer of the fluid in the syringe before it was forced into his system.

Sakura frowned. Why was her head on her desk? Why was it dark? Eeew. She was drooling all over her paperwork. She grudgingly straightened her back, feeling her tense muscles protest weakly.

Okay, she'd lied to Neji. She wasn't going to go home and relax after they'd dropped off the injured ninja at the hospital. She'd lied to Tsunade, too. Vacation? No no no…that wouldn't work no matter how many times the Hokage tried to force the pink-haired work-a-holic into it.

Sakura sighed, slowly stretching as she stood up from the ragged rolling chair. He steps were soft as she shuffled over to the wall to flick on a light switch. After completing said action, Tsunade's own personal lab was suddenly flooded with pure white fluorescent light, making Sakura groan.

_Give me darkness or give me a migraine_ she thought, walking back to the desk to collect her stuff. Her "stuff" was mostly journals written in tiny print that she had to squint at for hours to decipher. She wondered how long she'd been at it before some ignorant intern had come in and shut of the lights in the room.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and head out into the wide, white hallways of the hospital. Her hand found the lab key out of habit and locked the door behind her. As the key turned, Sakura heard the frantic patter of nurses' steps around the corner.

"Sakura-san!" squealed a brown haired nurse as she turned the corner.

"What? I'm not on duty!" Sakura yelled. Jeeze, she put in so much overtime on her own; why did everybody think they had a right to request even more from her?

"I apologize" the young nurse blubbered, inclining her head, "but one of the criminal patients keeps waking up and I can't legally give him any more sedative!".

"Who?" Sakura asked, beginning to walk down the hall towards the lobby. She sounded bored. New nurses always get so worked up about criminal patients.

"Uhm…"

"Y'know, it's kind of your job to know the patients' names" Sakura replied, rolling her eyes.

"I apologize, Sakura-san. I don't know the name or number of the patient, but he's the one Sai-san brought in earlier"

Sakura stiffened. Did Sai nab a guy who was strong enough to resist_ that_ much of Sakura's special sedative? It made Sakura deflate a little bit; she'd been proud of taking a guy out whose chakra was neutralized with only four doses. This nurse was saying she'd given the other guy at least six.

"Fine. I'll go approve a higher dose" Sakura said sourly. She spun on her heel and clicked down the hall with the nurse struggling to keep up with her.

**RJ782267**

**Name: unknown**

**Affiliation: unknown**

**Age: unknown**

**Sex: male**

**Height: 5' 10"**

**Weight: 152**

**Eyes: green**

**Hair: blonde**

**Capability: unknown**

**Threat: severe**

**Injuries: compressed skull due to blunt force trauma**

**Condition: stable**

**Distinguishing features: pronounced diagonal scar across left pectoral, circular burn mark over left shoulder (on back of neck)**

Sakura mulled over the chart as she watched the man sleeping. He hadn't even had the energy to keep his eyes open as she'd given him more sedative. A frown tugged at her tired features. Well,_ this_ handsome blonde criminal would get Sai some attention. What would her capture get her?

She sighed. Her capture wouldn't get any recognition. "Her" criminal was already worn out, and he wasn't resisting untold amounts of specially designed drugs.

She turned around and sat on the edge of RJ782267's bed, holding his chart to her chest in the glow of the equipment. She shouldn't have cared, but lately she'd been feeling a little jaded.

Naruto was already a legend (thanks to a certain demon). Sasuke was a traitor, but still a legend in the shinobi world. Sakura was…working on it. She was a first-rate ninja by any country's standards and was a human anomaly in the medical field, but it wasn't enough. All that stood between her and her old teammates was a blood-line limit and a demon, but still the world would remember those two knuckleheads as being better than their team mate.

Sakura almost hoped that her other patient would do something interesting so that she could have some bragging rights to defend herself from the ex-ROOT's gloating. Wistfully, she glanced over at the dark-haired man in the bed across from the one she was sitting on.

She struck gold. She managed to catch a glimpse of glistening iris reflecting the light of the moon before the long black eyelashes slammed shut.

Sakura bounced up. "Well, you shouldn't be awake" she reprimanded cheerily.

"Nor should you" was the soft reply. Sakura was delighted. Her patient was forming cohesive thoughts on twice the amount of sedative it had taken to knock Kabuto out when he'd been briefly captured two months ago!

Sakura crossed the aisle in two steps, grabbing a vial and syringe off RJ782267's cart on the way. "Is breathing very difficult?" she asked as she expertly filled the syringe without even looking for a light-source.

"Shouldn't you be asking me who I am or why I was hiding in your village?" the man asked, opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling. He sounded curious but exhausted.

Sakura smiled faintly as she punctured the IV line. "That's not my job. I'm just supposed to make sure you survive until you get to interrogation". She didn't mention that he'd already been drugged and questioned by her and others, earlier. He'd fallen into drug induced sleep by the end of the session without saying a word.

"No. It does not hurt to breathe" her patient—LK314457—said, still staring at the ceiling. Then, hid eyelids started to flutter.

Sakura smiled as she left, heels clicking on the tile floor. _We'll see who captured the stronger one, Sai_ she thought as she turned the handle on the door of the ward.

And they _would _see. Both captives were scheduled to be transferred to holding cells in the morning…to the same cell. Fate had a nasty way of filling Konoha with enemy ninja when space in the interrogation center was needed to keep to brothers from coming close to each other. Really, both ninja would be drained of chakra and placed under the supervision of Konha's top ninja, so why worry? What could possibly go wrong?

**Next Chapter: Finally! Brothers meet behind masks that can't be broken! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay. Wow, this is a really short chapter. Chances are that I won't get to update for almost two-three weeks, though, so this will have to do for now. I have the perfect ending imagined for this story though, so it won't get abandoned in these next few busy weeks. **

**Disclaimer: I don't make any money from Naruto.**

Bars of moonlight ghosted over the floor more like pale darkness than actual luminescence. The window was small, and barred like the one in the hospital, but it afforded a better view of the night sky above Konoha.

Stars glittered peacefully in the ebony expanse of the heavens. Down in the cell though, four stars glittered just as intently in the shadows. Two were amber, and two were green; both were hiding glinting jewels of crimson.

_He looks…grungy_ Sasuke thought, staring at a point in the plaster wall somewhere above the other ninja's shoulder. The ninja's tattered clothes—which had been returned to Itachi after ANBU inspection—were a menagerie of jounin clothing from a multitude of hidden villages.

A Konoha vest, a style of pants typical to mist shinobi, and a few Sand accessories here and there successfully completed the illusion of belonging to everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Fascinating. It was almost as if the man came prepared for capture. Sasuke used his concealed Sharringan to note every detail of the man's physique:

_No areas of supremely enhanced musculature._

_No built shoulders to suggest swordplay or sinewy biceps to indicate projectile proficiency._

_Large reserves of chakra, judging by the number of restraint tags plastered to the man's forearm…genjutsu and ninjutsu were his cellmate's most likely weapons._

Sasuke grinned inwardly. A perfect companion to his own abilities.

Coffee-colored spiky hair hung around the man's head, covering his ears and shadowing his amber eyes, which were morosely staring a hole in the floor…or so Sasuke thought.

* * *

_Fascinating_…The blonde shinobi on the other side of the room also relied heavily on genjutsu--and ninjutsu as well, judging by the man's long, dexterous fingers. Evidence of early swordsmanship hung about the man's shoulders, but the elder Uchiha could tell that the man was new at the art.

Itachi's blonde, jade-eyed companion wore standard black jounin pants and a black tee; Sasuke's other clothing, including his vest, had been too fraught with hiding places for various weapons to be acceptable in the prison.

The ninja looked startling like a darker, more muscular kyuubi container. The mass of blonde hair and sparkling eyes were more than faintly reminiscent of the boy known as Naruto and the ninja's very posture reminded Itachi of his little "friend".

Like his dark-haired companion, the blonde was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, but unlike Itachi, his shoulders were slightly hunched and his lip jutted forward into a pathetic pout. His forearms dangled off of his bent knees.

Itachi was simply using his hair to hide his prying eyes. He didn't feel like mirroring the blonde's blatant stare.

* * *

"So…what's your name" the blonde asked, shifting his gaze to the window as if he was embarrassed.

"I do not indulge in the luxury of familiarity while in enemy custody…sorry" replied the ninja on the other side of the room, politely. _His_ gaze shifted to his companion's glinting eyes, waiting for a response.

"Suit yourself" Sasuke said, trying to sound remotely offended.

"You know, they offered me privileges for getting information on my cellmate as well. You don't have to pretend to be innocent"

"Maybe my intentions were noble" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No honor among thieves" was Itachi's toneless reply.

"Enemies on the field are brothers when chained"

"I see no chains. Only bars" Itachi said. A small smirk pulled at a corner of his mouth; He'd had a similar conversation with Deidara once before.

"Why was that funny?" Sasuke asked tartly, keeping up the façade of a new, petulant missing ninja.

"For once, bars seem quite adequate to make hostile parties converse amiably"

"What?" Sasuke asked, pretending to be confused by his companion's vocabulary. He was freely drawing off his experiences with Naruto now. He'd decided to manufacture a new personality to accompany his henge disguise—he figured a "Knucklehead-ninja gone missing-ninja" personality would be effective.

Itachi, thinking similarly, opted for a "aging ninja regretting career path" disguise. "Bars might just be enough to make us brothers instead of enemies" he translated, smiling not-unkindly at the blonde.

For a moment, the ninja just stared at each other from across the dark abyss between them. Each knew that the other was putting on an act, even if they _were_ two fine acts indeed. Both Uchihas felt something wriggle in their chests. _Finally _each young man thought, _someone who might actually be worth meeting.

* * *

_

Neji's chest barely rose or fell as he leaned against the prisoners' door. His eyes were half-lidded in thought, half-strained in anxiety. Those two would have to be separated immediately.

The two nameless ninja were two in the midst of seventeen enemy shinobi in Konoha custody. The other fifteen were being held in similar lodgings around the ANBU headquarters, and Neji supposed that any of these others were just as likely to team up on their captors, but still…

What if these two were unique, if they were the only two who could unite the prisoners? Could they risk spreading the cancer? True, they got along with each other too well for the guards to be comfortable, but maybe it was best that they be quarantined.

Neji shook his head. He would speak to Sakura and the Nara genius about it. At the moment, he had to worry about waiting for any sign of disturbance. It had been a night like this when Mizuki had escaped all those years ago, and the Hokage was feeling nervous. True, the storm wasn't here yet, but everyone could here it rumbling in the distance.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm back. Whoooo. Twirls noisemaker blandly. I really want to continue this story, but I'm having a hard time staying motivated. Feedback is really great. Thanks reviewers, subscribers, and favoriters. **

**This gets long. I bolded text in the last two pages if you're one of those people who just reads dialogue. You miss a bit, though.**

**Disclaimer: I don't make any money from this.**

Sakura dragged air into her lungs through her nose. She felt the warm, dry atmosphere fill the tunnel in her chest and slowly expand her upper torso. The deep breath seemed to stretch her exhausted lungs as she braced herself against the rough bark of the tree trunk.

"That wasn't terribly intelligent, Pinky" a gravelly, amused voiced echoed through the sparse trees.

Sakura raised her narrowed eyes to the scrap of starry sky visible between the limbs of deciduous canopy. Biting back a swift retort, she brought her hands to her chest and began a series of hand signs. Stupid fish man—he wasn't worth her snappy wit.

"I mean, seriously…you sneezed. Isn't that a little amateur?" Hoshigake Kisame asked her, watching the tree she hid behind suspiciously. Though his tone was mocking and nonchalant, he was wary of the girl. Sure, her petite little "ah-choo" had tipped him off in time, but she shouldn't have been able to get that close to him. Plus, she'd taken longer to locate than either of her other two teammates.

The kunoichi grimaced, agreeing with her opponent. She lightly shook her head to clear her head of Hoshigake's image. Yes, Hoshigake, not Kisame. Kisme was the name of the misty legend, the partner of one of the most feared ninja in the world. The last thing Sakura wanted was to be intimidated by the dangerous man.

It was true: Akatsuki were snooping along the western border of Konoha. However, Tsunade had been wrong when she suggested that they were probably just passing by. As it turned out, Hoshigake had been waiting for someone…someone who hadn't shown up.

When you were Itachi's partner, things tended to go like clockwork unless the Uchiha wanted to have some twisted fun. His idea of twisted fun _never_ lasted more than an hour. It had a whole day since Itachi was supposed to regroup with Kisame in Sand, making every black cloaked man, woman, and plant suspicious. Well, actually, the plant was less suspicious and more hungry; Zetsu had already asked permission to retrieve Itachi's ring.

Kisame, of course, had been good-naturedly outraged. The Samehada had throbbed in his hand at the plant's suggestion, but Pein had the good sense to appease the shark-man before blood (sap or whatever) was shed. Kisame and Deidara were dispatched to wait for the Akatsuki's link to the Sharringan from a position nearer to Itachi's location.

The problem: Itachi never emerged from his old village, even after another twenty four hours. As with Konoha ANBU, the amount of time elapsed was unacceptable. Something was wrong.

* * *

Sakura wished she had chosen a different night to start digging into her mission-quota. Like Shikamaru, who had to balance his ambassadorial duties with normal missions, Sakura had to balance her time at the hospital and her time out in the field.

Her team was considered invincible by younger shinobi and admirable by those with more experience: TenTen, Shika, Neji, and herself. When at least three of them were available, the team was considered available for dispatch, which is exactly what Tsunade had done when a chunin scout came back stuttering about red clouds.

Neji couldn't come, being retained as the elite ninja responsible for the defense of the new prisoners.

Shikamaru was unconscious, slumped over a tree branch somewhere above Sakura's head.

TenTen was being restrained by an annoyed clay-master, who was distractedly twirling a stand of her hair as he used his weight to press the girl securely against a tree. Apparently, her pigtail buns had annoyed him to the point that he couldn't leave them alone.

That left Sakura, the girl with summer allergies, present and capable of rescuing her teammates. She knew the jutsu that would do it, too. She just hoped that she had enough time behind the tree. As she completed the last hand sign, she distractedly wondered if Sasuke could summon snakes yet.

* * *

Kisame shifted uncomfortably. Itachi was his partner and really the only other shinobi in all five countries that he trusted in engagements with enemy ninja. Deidara was too unpredictable for a delicate situation like this.

The blonde would give information away instead of probing for it tactfully…or at least Kisame expected him to. He'd taken Itachi's role of diplomacy in this temporary relationship, threatening the blonde with his life if he dared open his mouth. Kisame's threatening glare wasn't up to par with the Uchiha's glinting Sharringan, but the golden shark eyes were effective enough to shut the blonde up for once.

"Where's your demon friend, kid?" Kisame asked Sakura, sounding slightly bored.

From her position between Deidara's shoulder and the smooth bark of an elm, TenTen shot Sakura a panicked glance, knowing that her expression wouldn't pierce the tree that Sakura's chakra signature emanated from. Much to her relief, her pink-haired friend didn't respond to Kisame's question, even with a lie.

Her relieved sigh made the bomber nudge his shoulder blade into her a little harder. He pulled the strand of hair he held, pulling the weapons mistress's head back towards him a little more. "As pointless as this is, you shouldn't try to end it your own way, yeah. Sharky's in a mood" he whispered. TenTen had a hard time believing that the clay master was taking his job seriously.

She told him so, and he shrugged. The motion pushed TenTen's head back into the tree. "I could school you kiddies without even caring, then? Doesn't that say something about you, yeah?" he snickered in to her ear. As he the last word left his mouth, the ground began to shake and Kisame's chakra flooded the area, bristling in apprehension.

Sakura's summons had arrived.

* * *

The slug was slightly less impressive than Sakura remembered. She stood a little taller than Sakura, but was considerably thicker. It's girth was matched by its chakra pattern, which made Kisame snort in appreciation. No where near his own level, but fairly impressive. The slug looked lethargic at first, but then became alert as a glaring Sakura emerged from behind it.

"Can you take the blonde? He's holding a friend of mine. The Nara boy you met last time is somewhere above us. Find him please" Sakura directed sternly, not letting her narrowed eyes stray from Hoshikage, who was shaking his head as he pulled his massive sword off his back.

The slug cocked its head to the side in a concerned manner.

"I'll be fine" Sakura responded, tossing her head to toss a few strands of her pink hair away from her face. The motion also tossed her long rosette braid across her back and loosed a senbon from its place underneath the hair elastic (it fell into her waiting hand). She wondered if the shark or the slug could detect her fear.

* * *

Tsunade's shoes clicked menacingly, echoing along the hallway before she even rounded the corner.

"Hyuuga!" she bellowed, not caring that she was probably awaking every prisoner on the hall. They weren't paying for privacy or turn-down service, and certainly not a good night's sleep. This was a prison, damnit, not a hotel.

"Yes, ma'am" Neji replied from the darkness in front of the two unknown ninja's room.

"You're coming with me!" Tsunade growled, grabbing his bicep gruffly. She was already turning on her heel as dragged the Hyuuga forward.

Neji complied, casting one last glance at the secure doors before falling in step behind the dangerous woman. "What's going on?" he asked darkly. The woman was sober, but this state of agitation usually implied that there was trouble with her precious apprentice.

"Sakura summoned a slug on a mission" the Hokage hissed, continuing to drag Neji through the dark halls.

Using his "mission voice", Neji probed further. "What mission?" he asked. Sakura would never abuse her summons, so he recognized the situation as a grave one.

"Intruder surveillance. Akatsuki involved" Tsunade monotoned.

Neji stopped moving his feet. "It was not that highly ranked" he hissed. He'd talked to his pink-haired friend while she pulled her ANBU mask on in her apartment just hours ago, and she'd mentioned a C rank mission, not one that was nearly unclassifiable.

"I told Sakura to lie to you. You wouldn't have let her go without you there to help the team" Tsunade reigned the volumed of her voice with difficulty. Frustration and guilt flooded words.

"No. I. Wouldn't. Have." Neji forced out of his clenched teeth. Every word was accompanied by a thud of his sandals against the polished wood floor.

"I know! So let's go already!" Tsunade bellowed, finally fed up with the Hyuuga's time-consuming agitation. She grabbed his arm again, but he ripped it out of her hand and ran past her towards the door to the complex. "Where?" he yelled over his shoulder.

"We're going west!" Tsunade yelled back, performing the seals that would open the door before the obstinate Hyuuga burst through it.

With a growl and a rough toss of his long, chocolate-colored hair, Neji was off.

* * *

"Well," Sasuke grunted, "That was interesting". He was referring to the recent bout of shouting that had echoed through their pitch-black cell.

Itachi nodded at the floor. "Our guard is gone" he whispered. His eyes raised slowly, sadly.

"I don't know about you, but I can't even move my legs very well" Sasuke huffed grudgingly. Inside, he was hissing curses at fate.

Itachi was smouldering, but he managed to make his voice soft and regretful; "I can barely keep myself conscious" he exaggerated. He wanted his companion to imagine him as weaker than he really was, so he didn't admit that he was in half-way decent condition. However, it was true that even the older Uchiha didn't have much chance of escaping the village so soon after having his chakra drained completely.

Without openly admitting it, both men had agreed that they were in no condition to take advantage of Neji's absence.

Though they hid it deep in the folds of their consciousness, both men exhaled the patented Uchiha sigh. Anyone in Konoha would have recognized it as it passed through their lips, but because the twin exhalations were merely subconscious, neither of the Uchihas heard the tell-tale sign of the other's lineage.

* * *

Kakashi sat on the roof of the Hokage's tower. One knee was pulled up to his chest and the other dangled freely over the moonlit streets of Konoha. Naturally, an orange book sat in his gloved hand.

But how was he reading in the dark?

Kabuto knew that he wasn't. No, the copy ninja was holding a multitude of shuriken and kunai within those pages as he always did, merely using the book as a cover. Really, it was ridiculous that people didn't see how the man used his trademark literature as a front for his vigilant paranoia.

The snake sannin's medic watched Kakashi's back for a moment before materializing behind the motionless jounin.

"Reading in the dark, Hatake-san?" he asked mockingly, before he was gripped by the shin and dragged down with a feral growl from behind the famous black mask.

"Yes" was Kakashi's acerbic reply.

Kabuto was about to nonchalantly reply when he noticed something rather important.

Kakashi's other distinctive trait was glaring at his with eerie crimson light. The copy ninja HAD been able to read in the darkness.

"Handy, no?" Kakashi asked tonelessly, yanking Kabuto off the building and dangling him by the ankle. The traitor medic assumed the copy ninja was referring to the exposed sharringan eye that was currently staring him down.

"So Sasuke says" Kabuto replied, grinning even as he hung upside down dozens of yards above the street. His lack of concern told Kakashi that he was actually holding another one of Kabuto's reanimated corpses. Though the thought made him want to gag in disgust, he held on to the dangling body.

"I don't think you have a right to talk about him, traitor" Kakashi growled.

"But, he's a traitor just like me, Kakashi-san. We're EQUALS." Kabuto reminded him politely.

Kakashi felt bile rise in his throat, but realized that he had nothing to say to that comment. The moment of silence was filled with the sensation of a kunai being twirled through a father's heart. Kakashi had, after all, been like a second father to the young man who left years earlier.

"So…seen him lately?" Kabuto asked. In any other situation, he would have taken advantage of the pain in the creases around the copy-ninja's eyes, but he was walking on thin ice at the moment.

He'd already determined that Uchiha Sasuke was not among his old friends…at least not to friends' knowledge. Medical records of captured ninja revealed that of the recent captures, only two occurred in a manner befitting Orochimaru's slave-boy…the rest were captured too easily. One even got a kunai to the head from one foot away.

The Konoha ninja weren't hiding him in their interrogation cells; Kabuto had already infiltrated and searched those. And, Sasuke wasn't just taking a vacation in his old village; Kabuto would have been able to find him through his chakra signature…or so he thought.

He'd even gone to the Uchiha compound, where he found a withered rose deliberately placed in the center of a locked room. He thought that Sasuke must have put it there.

All in all, Kabuto hadn't done a very good job on this mission.

Now, he was wasting time by chatting with the renowned jounin, grasping at straws. To his dismay, Hatake Kakashi would not be giving any information away if Sasuke's presence_ had_ been felt in Konoha. Kakashi demonstrated this by letting his long fingers loosen around the suddenly cold flesh underneath the purple fabric.

The hard resolve in the silver-haired ninja's eyes dimmed as he realized that he was holding a corpse instead of an intruder. Apparently, Kabuto was close enough to withdraw his control over the body before it was released to the ground with his chakra still bound to it.

With a cold sigh, Kakashi summoned his dogs in the moonlight. A light breeze made his summoning scroll flap in the breeze and carried the scent of his blood into the crisp night sky. Had Kisame been a few more yards above sea-level, he would have been able to catch a whiff of the copy-ninja's lifeblood, but as it were, the shark man was down on the ground trying to pull a senbon out of his shoulder and reach for the Samehada at the same time.

* * *

The swordsman cursed under his labored breath. He knew Deidara was already unconscious, slung over the weapons mistress's shoulder with surprising ease. She and the slug could be heard combing the trees for their fallen tactician. Every few seconds, Kisame could see their girl's form blur to a new branch with Deidara's legs bouncing against her lower back.

**"No partner, no sword…you are in a rather precarious situation, Hoshigake-san**" Sakura drawled. Her voice was the carefully practiced voice of her former sensei. She emulated his tone, hoping that it would have the same effect on her appearance as it did on his. Sakura was slightly more confident now that TenTen had taken out Deidara before the slug could even get to her, but she was still nervous.

**"No partners, no slug…so are you, pinky"** Kisame responded with a dark chuckle. He batted a barrage of kunai away before they hammered into his chest. He raised an eyebrow at the girl's audacity. Did she just attack him while he was on the ground?

He shrugged. The attack made sense; Kisame was still a threat, especially now that he had palmed the Samehada. Smart girl, not sticking to the shinobi code in order to preserve her life. **"So, Naruto's not here, huh?" **he asked, dodging another non-lethal weapon with speed that should not have been possible for someone who had just jack-knifed his torso off the ground.

Sakura didn't answer. Instead, she combed the area for a hint of Kisame's partner for the thousandth time. No, Itachi wasn't around. Sakura was well known for her ability to pick up on even the most well-hidden chakra…a side effect of searching for the last vestiges of life in dying patients' bodies.

Itachi's absence explained why Kisame was so reluctant to engage in full-on battle. After all, Sakura wouldn't want to start something without her teammates. The kunoichi didn't have time to ponder the matter further, though.

Within a second, Kisame was off the ground again, pressing Sakura's throat a tree with piece of the Samehada he had wrapped thickly just for this purpose. His golden eyes were even more distracting than hid gills as Sakura pulled chakra into her fists.

**"Nnnnnnnnnno"** Kisame smirked, grabbing her hand and pushing it against the tree. He eyed the other fist warily, then used his knee to ram it against the tree trunk. The satisfying crunch of bones make his smirk flicker a little wider for a moment.

Sakura's eyes glazed over in pain. She doubted she could cry—even if she wanted to—after all the ANBU training she'd been given, but the agony pulsing in her left hand made spots dart around her eyes.

**"Answer, Pinky. No Magnekyuo, but I promise I can make things painful"** Kisame said, seemingly unaffected by Sakura's condition.

He had hoped that this girl, the apprentice to the Hokage and one of the village's elite ninja, would show some sign of recognition at the mention of the Uchiha, but she didn't. Plus, by the way the girl kept probing for his partner with bursts of chakra, Kisame guessed that Sakura had no idea where Itachi was. His grip slackened just the slightest bit.

It was all Sakura needed to free her uninjured hand and ram it into the shark-man's abdomen, sending him back almost twenty feet. The thud and rumble of his harsh landing was accompanied by a crackling explosion somewhere above Sakura's head. The rosette paled. Deidara was awake.

As if in response to this revelation, the blonde haired man leapt out the trees gracefully and landed in a crouch next to Kisame.

**"The other one says the bastard isn't here, yeah**" he whined. **"Let's kill them and get this over with**". Clay was already churning in his palms.

Before Sakura could process what he'd said, Kisame interjected as he stood up. He glanced at Sakura coolly while grumbling, **"No. Later.".**

He raised an eyebrow at Deidara's incredulous stare. **"What? I want to kill them, too, okay? It's just that now isn't the best time"**

"**Sure, Itachi**" Deidara mocked, letting his fists fall to his sides in a defeatist posture.

Kisame was sure that Deidara handn't meant that as a complement, but he wasn't offended. Instead, he just knocked the blonde over the head for friendliness's sake and nodded at Sakura. **"Knock her out**" he ordered, but he was too late.

Sakura was flying into the woods, searching for her teammates—both of whose chakra signatures were weak and erratic.

* * *

Tsunade's eyes widened with every new fracture she found in Sakura's hand.

**"Bastard"** she whispered under her breath, thinking of a certain swordsman being roasted over a cooking fire with a nice array of salmon and trout.

**"Yeah**" Sakura sighed without enthusiasm. **"I shouldn't have summoned the slug. I didn't really have a plan with what to do with her once she got there and the bloodless summon drained more chakra than I could spare**".

**"Well, at least it got _me_ there**" Tsunade grumbled. She tried not to let her anger show while she worked on patients, but Team 4 had been SO DAMN FOOLISH. The Nara kid would get a piece of her mind…and fist…when he woke up. Sakura would get her punishment now.

**"Sakura, what the hell were you thinking? What on earth was going through your head?"** Tsunade hissed, amber eyes narrowed in rage and disappointment. **"I thought it was all my fault, and then you tell me that you and Nara planned and AMBUSH of two Akatsuki!"**

Sakura hissed back. **"It wasn't like that! They were sleeping! We stumbled onto their camp, which wasn't even concealed with genjutsu! We had no choice but to attack them once the blonde one woke up and saw us"**

**"You could have run!"** Tsunade shouted, making Neji grimace from his place on the outside of the door to the room.

**"Sure! Kisame Hoshigake would never have caught us with his insane speed and strength! Oops! That's exactly what we should have done!" **Sakura retorted. Her jaws ached for some reason. Had she been gritting her teeth?

Tsunade had nothing to say. She simply turned her head sharply towards the window in the room, where a glowing orange ball could be seen hovering above the dark trees. The sky was pastel pink and purple. It was beautiful. **"You will take over the position of head-medic at the prison. Effective immediately. Tasogare Rin will take over your position at the hospital and Ino will take your position on team 4" **the robust woman sighed. Her solemn tone warned Sakura that she couldn't argue, couldn't bargain, and would have to accept that her duties began immediately.

They hadn't even heard the door open.

"**Uchiha Itachi is AWOL from the Akatsuki"** TenTen whispered, fearful of breaking the silence threaded through the empty room. Neji had put his hand on her shoulder as she passed him, warning her not to intrude on the Hogake and her apprentice. TenTen shook her head. "This is important" she'd muttered.

Tsunade, glancing at TenTen briefly, responded, **"Thank you. Sakura suspected as much. I'll need a report from you as soon as you look well enough to hold a pen. Speaking of you condition, though, TenTen…GET YOUR ASS BACK TO YOUR ROOM!"**. Tsunade's voice finished with a roar.

The weapons mistress bowed curtly and backed up towards the cracked door.

Kakashi heard the Rokudaime dismiss TenTen and leapt off his perch on the roof. **"Sasuke has left Orochimaru" **he sighed, slipping in through the window Tsunade had been glaring at. Kakashi stopped moving as he realized that Sakura was in the room as well. Oops.

* * *

"**Want my bread?**" Sasuke asked.

"**Sure. Thank you. You may have my apple if you want it"** Itachi replied, scrunitizing the small green fruit that had rolled into the room through a small door after the bread and bottles of water were inserted.

**"Yo, Sakura**" Kakashi sighed, "**When did you start masking your chakra even in the village?".**

"**Since Neji suggested it**" Sakura replied blandly. Did Kaka-sensei think she still suffered from her infatuation with her old teammate? It appeared that he did, rubbing his neck awkwardly, watching Sakura for some response to the name "Sasuke".

"**Oh**" was Kakashi's simple reply. He glanced at Tsunade, who was giving him an amused smile, daring him to mention her apprentice's dead obsession.

"**Go see Neji so that he stops pacing, Sakura**" Tsunade chuckled.

Sakura gladly complied, nearly skipping out of the room. Neji opened the door for her before she could reach for the handle. His pale hand shot inside the room, grabbing Sakura's extended arm and dragged her outside.

**"You scared me**" Neji said with an even glare. His white eyes didn't reflect the bright fluorescent light.

To his shock, he found himself breathing in the scent of Sakura's shampoo, pink locks—now slightly frizzy—tickling his nose, and lanky, strong arms pulling him towards her. Of course, Sakura couldn't budge him, but the hug brought _her _more firmly into Neji's chest.

**"I scared you?"** Sakura asked. Neji stiffened at the feeling of her lips moving against his chest.

"**Tsunade-sama was correct when she said that attacking them was stupid. You should have called for backup"** he replied.

Sakura gave him an inquisitive smirk that he couldn't see because her face was still pressed into the black shirt he'd worn beneath the ANBU vest from last night. She ignored his response, though.

**"Thank you for caring"** she said, pulling away from him. She smiled as she walked down the hall, and laughed when she realized Neji was jogging to catch up with her.

Neji scowled when Sakura broke into a run, but leapt out the window to intercept her as she flew out the doors of the hospital. He knew why she was playing with him, acting so affectionate…she was either saying that the progress he'd made wouldn't be lost because Sasuske wasn't tangled up with the snake anymore, or she was saying goodbye in the sweetest way she knew how to.

* * *

**"So…what can we do in this concrete box, anyway**?" Sasuke asked, glancing at the older male who was recumbent on the floor across from him. He ran his hands through the spiky yellow mop on his head and stretched. The motion made him feel weak and dizzy.

Itachi's amber eyes flickered for a moment, noticing the other's discomfort. The older Uchiha couldn't understand how they had managed to get poison into the bread which he had so thoroughly checked. The sedatives in the fine layer of mist on the apple had been detectable, but….

Itachi felt a wave of fatigue pull at his eyelids. Apparently, the bread was more heavily drugged than the fruit, meant only to be consumed with the lighter portion of drugs on the apple. He'd unwittingly consumed a double portion of the more potent stuff and left two doses (plus whatever was in the water) of the lighter sedative to the younger shinobi.

He regulated his breathing to keep from passing out, but apparently it wasn't a strong enough effort. Sasuke looked at the unconscious older ninja, and narrowed his eyes. He should check him for identification or anything useful…but he somehow felt that it was better to leave the man his privacy. If Itachi's false character had done anything, it had managed to make Sasuke respect him…even if it was respect for the acting instead of respect for the character.

The now-blonde walked over to the door and began pounding. **"Hey! We need a medic! No joke!"**.

* * *

**Holy crud. I just wrote 12 pages. That's a bit more than my usual 5. I guess I missed writing. I'm sorry if my endurance limits me to shorter chapters and this one sucks. I promise this won't become too Sakura-centric…and sorry about the fluffiness between her and Neji. Actually, maybe I'll go back and post this as two chapters.**

**Lots more of the Uchiha brothers in the next chapter, I promise! I need them to have a reason to interact.**

**PLEASE TELL ME IF THIS IS GETTING BORING AND I NEED TO MIX THINGS UP. GRACIAS!**


End file.
